Afterburner for cooking device

ABSTRACT

THE NON-CONDENSABLE GASES FROM A COOKING DEVICE ARE INCINERATED BY THE INTENSELY HOT HIGH VELOCITY FLAME OF AN AFTERBURNER WHICH IS SELF CONTAINED AND MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH ANY EXHAUST PIPE IN WHICH NON-CONDENSABLE GASES ARE PRESENT. THE FLAME OF THE DEVICE IS PRODUCED IN AN AREA IN WHICH WATER FROM THE INCINERATED GASES CANNOT EXTINGUISH THE FLAME.   D R A W I N G

July 13, 1971 0, sc T 3,592,514

AFTERBURNER FOR COOKING DEVICE Filed April 21, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll H I 23 II I :l

l 3,; FIG-2 l 22 /H I l I! 1 [I l i: v I I I I... E 4 32 E 2' wwron CARL OSCAR SCHMIDT f v 3| 30 W I AT Y y 13, 1971 c. o. SCHMIDT AFTERBURNER FOR COOKING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21, 1969 INVENTOR CARL OSCAR SCHMIDT By AT R Y Ill-'l llall FIG-4 United States Patent 3,592,614 AFTEREURNER FOR (ISQKING DEVICE Carl Oscar Schmidt, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Cincinnati Butchers Suppty Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Filed Apr. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 818,000 Int. Cl. F23j 5 06; FZSg 7/06 U.S. Cl. 23290.5 10 Claims manner on THE nrsctosunn In cooking waste material such as animal offal, bones, and the like to remove the moisture therefrom so that the offal, bones and the like may later be treated to produce protein for chicken feed, for example, the vapors generated from cooking the material in the cooker are noxious and have an offensive odor. Therefore, it is necessary that the non-condensable, odorous gases of these vapors be completely incinerated before release to the atmosphere so as to eliminate their noxious property.

Since the vapors produced by cooking offal, bones and the like can be condensed, these vapors can be readily condensed after escaping from the cooker. However, the odorous, noxious gases are not condensable.

To prevent the non-condensable gases from being released to the atmosphere, it is necessary to incinerate these gases. This results in conversion of the oxidizable hydrocarbon constituents of the non-condensable gases to carbon dioxide and water vapor whereby the noxious property of the gases is no longer present.

Because of the incineration of the non-condensable gases, water vapor is produced during the conversion of the oxidizable hydrocarbon constituents of the non-condensable gases to carbon dioxide and water vapor. While the flame must be so located that it can produce a sufficiently high temperature to cause complete incineration of the non-condensable gases, the water from the water vapor can extinguish the flame unless .the flame is positioned in an area in which the water produced by incineration of the non-condensable gases cannot reach the flame.

The present invention satisfactorily solves the foregoing problem by utilizing an afterburner having a high velocity flame that will incinerate the non-condensable gases. T o insure that the flame of the afterburner is not extinguished by the water produced by the incineration of the non-condensable gases, the present invention utilizes a unique mounting arrangement for the flame producing means.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the flame producing means is disposed in a duct which is at an acute angle to a vertical stack into which the non-condensable gases are drawn. In this arrangement, the high velocity flame can incinerate the non-condensable gases within the vertical stack, to which they are drawn by the suction created by the flame, without the possibility of the flame being extinguished. This is because any water produced in the vertical stack due to incineration of the non-condensable gases cannot enter into the area in which the flame is produced.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the flame producing means acting as a jet is disposed above the vertical stack so that the water created by incinera- "ice tion of the non-condensable gases flows to the bottom of the vertical stack. Therefore, the water from the noncondensable gases cannot extinguish the flame of the burner so that complete incineration of the non-condensable gases is accomplished.

An object of this invention is to provide an afterburner for a cooking device.

Another object of this invention is to provide an afterburner for completely incinerating non-condensable gases of a cooking device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a uniquely arranged afterburner for a cooking device in which the afterburner is disposed so that its flame producing means is not extinguished by water from the noncondensable gases that are completely incinerated by the afterburner.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an afterburner in which the flame producing means also creates suflicient suction to cause the non-condensable gases which are to be incinerated, to enter the area in which the flame of the afterburner is effective.

Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from the following description, claims and drawings.

The attached drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a cooking device with which one form of the afterburner of the present invention is employed.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1 including the afterburner and taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1 and showing utilization of another embodiment of the afterburner of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, there is shown a cooking device 10 for cooking material such as animal offal, bones or the like. One suitable example of the cooking device 10 is a cooker in which offal, bones, and the like are cooked to remove most of the water from the waste material. The cooker, which is shown in FIG. 1, is steam heated, but any other type of suitable heating means may be employed.

In cooking the waste material, the vapors escape from the cooking device 10 through a vapor line 11 to a vapor condenser 12. Water is supplied to the vapor condenser 12 through a pipe 14, which is connected to a suitable source of water under pressure, to cause condensation of the condensable vapors, the condensate flowing from the vapor condenser 12 through tail pipe A into the hot well B.

The pipe 14 has flow of water therethrough controlled by a control means 15. The control means 15 is connected to a heat sensing means 16 such as a thermostat, for example, within the hot well 13. Accordingly, the control means 15 allows water to flow to the vapor condenser 12 only when the condensate in the hot well B is at a sufliciently high temperature to require additional condensation of the vapors coming from the cooking device 10.

All of the condensable vapors are condensed within the vapor condenser 12. All of the water, which is produced from condensing the condensable vapors, escapes from the vapor condenser 12 through a tail pipe A into the hot well B. However, the vapor condenser 12 does not remove the non-condensable, noxious gases which are produced by the cooking device 10, since some of the gases from the cooking device 10 are not condensable. If these non-condensable gases were allowed to pass to the atmosphere, their noxious property and offensive odors would create pollution of the air and possibly cause the cooking device 10 to have to be shut down.

Accordingly, all of the non-condensable gases pass from the hot well B through a pipe 21. The pipe 21 is connected to and communicates with a pipe 22, which is formed integral with a vertical stack 23.

The vertical stack 23 has a duct 24 extending therefrom at an angle of 45 (see FIG. 3) to the longitudinal axis of the stack 23. The duct 24- is closed at its lower end except for a pipe 25 extending therethrough.

The pipe 25 has a fuel, which is preferably gas, and air flow therethrough for introduction into the duct 24. The end of the pipe 25 has a nozzle 26 thereon and within which the ignition of the gas occurs. The initial combustion of the gas within the nozzle 26 is accomplished by utilizing a match, which is inserted through a small opening (not shown) in the duct 24.

The pipe 25 is connected to a high velocity blower 27. The high velocity blower 27 sucks in air from the atmosphere for mixing with gas, which is introduced into the blower 27 through a pipe 28. The pipe 28 is connected to a suitable source of gas under pressure. A valve in the pipe 28 controls the flow of gas therethrough.

The ignited gas from the nozzle 26 creates a very hot jet flame 29 (see FIG. 3). The flame 29 has a very high velocity due to the blower 27 so that the flame 29 extends into the vertical stack 23. The velocity of the flame 29 is suflicient to create a suflicient suction in the vertical stack 23 to cause the non-condensable gases to flow or be drawn from the hot well B through the pipes 21 and 22 to the vertical stack 23. Furthermore, the flame 29 has a sufficiently high temperature to cause complete incineration of the non-condensable gases within the vertical stack 23. As a result, the oxidable hydrocarbon constituents of the non-condensable vapors are converted to carbon dioxide and water vapor.

The carbon dioxide escapes through the upper end of the vertical stack 23 to the atmosphere. The water vapor is partly condensed into water and flows downwardly to the bottom of the vertical stack 23. The water escapes from the vertical stack 23 through an opening 30 (see FIG. 2) in its lower wall 31, which closes the bottom of the vertical stack 23.

Since the duct 24 extends into the stack 23 a suflicient distance as shown in FIG. 3, the water on the inner surface of the vertical stack 23 is deflected around the duct and cannot flow into the duct 24 but must flow to the bottom of the vertical stack 23. Accordingly, the water within the vertical stack 23 cannot flow into the nozzle 26 to cause the flame 29 to be extinguished.

The inner surface of the vertical stack 23 is lined with a refractory material 32. This is to protect the vertical stack 23 from the intense heat created by the flame 29.

Considering the operation of the afterburner of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, the cooking device 10 is loaded with waste material. As previously mentioned, the waste material could be offal, bones, and the like that are to be cooked within the cooking device 10. If the offal, bones, and the like weighed 10,000 pounds, 5,000 pounds of this total would be water that must be evaporated. Accordingly, this would require approximately 2,000 pounds of water to be condensed each hour by the vapor condenser 12.

The gases which have not been condensed in the vapor condenser 12, pass from the vapor condenser 12 through the tail pipe A into the hot well B.

When the non-condensable gases escape from the hot well B through pipe 21 and 22 into the vertical stack 23, the intensity of the jet flame 29 is suflicient to cause all oxidizable hydrocarbon constituents of the non-condensable gases to be converted into carbon dioxide and water vapor. The carbon dioxide escapes through the upper end of the vertical stack 23 while the water vapor is partly condensed and flows through the opening 30 in the lower wall 31 of the vertical stack 23.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown another arrangement of the afterburner of the present invention in which 4 the vertical stack 23 is replaced by a similar vertical stack 33. However, the vertical stack 33 is not lined with the refractory material 32. Furthermore, the flame 29 is not introduced into the vertical stack 33.

The upper end of the vertical stack 33 has a horizontal duct 34 communicating therewith. The flame 29 is produced within the duct 34 from the nozzle 26. Thus, the inner surface of the duct 34 is lined with a refractory material 35.

The flame 29 is introduced with suflicient velocity into the duct 34 by the blower 27 to create a suflicient suction in the vertical stack 33 to cause the non-condensed gases from the hot well B to flow through the vertical stack 33 and into the duct 34. Because of the temperature of the flame 29 within the duct 34, the non-condensed gases have their oxidizable hydrocarbons converted into carbon dioxide and water vapor. When the water vapor condenses, it again flows to the lower end of the vertical stack 33 and escapes therefrom though an opening 36 in lower wall 37 of the vertical stack 33.

Thus, the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 4 is the same as that for FIGS. 1 to 3. The only dilference is that the jet flame 29 is not introduced into the vertical stack but is introduced above the vertical stack. However, there is no possibility of the flame 29 being extinguished by Water produced by the incineration of the non-condensed vapors.

While the afterburner of the present invention has been described for utilization with a hot well B such as used with a cooker for cooking offal, bones, and the like, it should be understood that the afterburner of the present invention may be readily employed with any type of combustion or cooking device producing noxious gases. For example, the afterburner of the present invention could be employed with a trash burning device.

An advantage of thi invention is that it insures that the noxious gases of waste material or the like from a combustion or cooking device are not vented to the atmosphere. Another advantage of this invention is that is prevents the flame of an afterburner from being extinguished by water produced during complete incineration of noncondensable gases.

What is claimed is:

1. An afterburner device for incinerating noncondensable gases, wherein means is provided for reducing a material to components that include condensable vapors and noncondensable gases and including condensing means for condensing the condensable vapors, means for conveying the noncondensable gases to the afterburner, said afterburner comprising a stack having an open top end and a closed bottom end, an inlet into said stack adjacent the closed end thereof for conveying said noncondensable gases into said stack, flame producing means disposed in communication with said stack above said inlet for burning said noncondensable gases, said flame producing means including blower means and nozzle means disposed externally of said stack but in communication therewith through a duct extending through the wall of said stack and having an end portion thereof extended past the wall of said stack to define a deflector for moisture running down the wall of said stack so that moisture produced as a result of burning said gases will not flow into said duct and extinguish said flame producing means, and vent means in said closed end of said stack for venting said moisture from said stack.

2. An afterburner device for incinerating noncondensable gases, wherein means is provided for reducing a material to components that include condensable vapors and noncondensable gases and including condensing means for condensing the condensable vapors, means for conveying the noncondensable gases to the afterburner, said afterburner comprising a stack having an open top end and a closed bottom end, an inlet into said stack adjacent the closed end thereof for conveying said noncondensable gases into said stack, flame producing means disposed in communication with said stack above said inlet for burning said noncondensable gases, said flame producing means including blower means and nozzle means disposed externally of said stack but in communication therewith through a duct extending generally laterally across the open top end of said stack so that moisture produced as a result of burning said gases will fall to the closed bottom end of said stack and will not extinguish said flame producing means, and vent means in said closed end of said stack for venting said moisture from said stack.

3. A combustion device including: means to cook a material that produces vapors including condensable vapors and noncondensable gases;

means to condense the condensable vapors, said condensing means comprising a water spray directed through the vapors;

means to receive the noncondensed gases, said receiving means comprising a stack open at one end and closed at the other end and having an inlet intermediate said ends for said noncondensed gases;

flame producing means in communication with said stack for producing a flame of sufficient temperature to incinerate the noncondensed gases, said flame producing means disposed in a duct means positioned above said inlet and relative to said stack so that moisture produced as a result of incineration of the noncondensed gases cannot flow to said flame producing means.

4. The combustion device according to claim 3 wherein the inlet is adjacent the lower end of said stack, and said duct and said flame producing means are disposed in communication with said stack intermediate the ends thereof, said duct including an end portion thereof extended through the wall of said stack and projecting inside said stack to define a deflector for moisture running down the wall of said stack.

5. The combustion device according to claim 3 wherein said flame producing means includes means for creating a suction in said stack to cause the noncondensed gases to enter said stack.

6. The combustion device according to claim 4 in which said duct is disposed at an acute angle to said vertical stack.

7. The combustion device according to claim 4 in which said duct is disposed at angle of 45 to said vertical stack.

8. The combustion device according to claim 4 in which:

said duct is disposed substantially perpendicular to said vertical stack; and said duct communicates with the upper end of said vertical stack.

9. The combination device according to claim 3 in which said flame producing means produces a jet flame.

10. The combustion device according to claim 3 in which said flame producing means includes means to introduce the flame into said duct at a high velocity.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES H. TAYMAN 111., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

